OS X security configuration guides

Apple’s Mac OS X Security Configuration Guides page gives ‘instructions and recommendations for securing Mac OS X and for maintaining a secure computer.’ To be more precise, it includes guides in PDF format for the desktop and server versions of OS X 10.3 to 10.6 (i.e. Panther, Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard).

The page makes the point firmly that this is is not stuff for the naive user: to use the material here, you need to be an experienced OS X user, familiar with the Terminal command line and basic networking, and prepared to follow the instructions diligently and test carefully.

To give you a taste, here are the chapter headings for the Snow Leopard desktop guide:

Preface

Introduction to Mac OS X Security Architecture

Installing Mac OS X

Securing System Hardware

Securing Global System Settings

Securing System Preferences

Securing Accounts

Securing Data and Using Encryption

Securing Applications

Securing Network Services

Advanced Security Management

Appendix A Security Checklist

Appendix B Security Scripts

Index

And if you were wondering, there’s not a lot of coverage of malware and what there is is very generic/high level compared to some of the other content.

David Harley CITP FBCS CISSP
Small Blue-Green World
ESET Senior Research Fellow